I completely forget to post about my "celebrity" meeting last Friday! I got a last minute invitation to a lecture by the director of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Dr. Jane Lubchenco. She was in Denmark for preparation for COP 15 (The United Nations Climate Change Conference) which is being held in Copenhagen next month and she presented a lecture as part of the University's Climate Lecture series. I have been to a few of these and haven't been all that impressed with the speakers so I didn't expect much. However, this time I was pleasantly surprised. Even though she is one of President Obama's chief science advisers, she is more scientist than politician. Before she took the appointment she was a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University. She still has a passion for the oceans and the environment and science in general which you rarely find outside of academia. I hope she is able to keep that perspective and doesn't get ruined by the government machine.It was a small intimate gathering (maybe 50-60 people present) and I was able to take a few minutes to chat with her afterwards. I thanked her for her passion and obvious commitment even though her objectives are not at the top of the priority list for Americans. I told her I was proud to have her fighting the good fight for us. Finally I am just damn proud to see not only a true scientist but a female scientist in such an important position.
She gave me some glimmer of hope and I really truly am glad that there is someone in the US government I believe has got my back. Go Jane! She has a Facebook she personally updates if you want to learn a bit more about her.
*Note* I did not take this photo I stole it from her FB page. However, it was taken when she gave the lecture I attended.
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